New Dance. New Ideas. New Memphis.

Reflecting on AbunDANCE

2012-01-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Over the course of our 25 years, Memphis' only fully professional and nationally lauded dance company has created or acquired the finest concert dance choreography our community has ever seen. There are always works our audience asks to see again, and this year's AbunDANCE gives us an opportunity to do just that.

Ballet Memphis has an abundant history of producing thoughtful programs of the finest curatorial quality, and we celebrate some of that history with you this weekend. AbunDANCE presents the perfect setting. it is, after all, a repertory show, one for which I have selected works that reflect our strongest qualities and showcase the richness of our versatility and our commitment to acquire and perform well-crafted, meaningful work. Each one of these pieces brings to life the ideas and feelings we share together.

At the basis of all that we do at Ballet Memphis, we work as ballet-trained artists. This assures an elegance of bearing and a sense of line that is a strong foundation from which we can depart, often in many directions. Dana Tai Soon Burgess' work, Venetian Reflections, was one of the works created for AbunDANCE: Art in Motion (2009) based on a John Singer Sargent painting at the Dixon Gallery. Its quiet drama and subtle movement vocabulary illustrate the contemporary classical ballets we have created or acquired. It is a fiercely delicate ballet, belying the utter strength it takes to sustain the movement that must be in place to partner with the music's intense fluidity.

Ballet Memphis' own Steven McMahon created Soul Selects Her Society for Interiorworks (2010), an annual dancer-produced season-closer event. We have nurtured many young choreographers, and as our choreographic associate, Steven is one of our success stories. The company has performed his work on stages across America, and it has become part of our most-important and most-danced repertoire. Ballet Memphis does much work to sung lyrics and this was Steven's first foray into this type of piece. He has created more than a dozen works for us and for our Junior Company, so seeing one of his well-crafted, deeply sincere, and first lyric-based pieces is a good way to view is copious talents, and Ballet Memphis' talent for creating significant work through the mentoring of young talent for which we are nationally respected.

Robert Battle, new artistic director for the prestigious Alvin Alley Company, is a longtime friend of Ballet Memphis. I met Robert and saw his solo work, Takademe, years ago when Ballet Memphis was the only American ballet company to be selected to perform in Houston's Dance Salad Festival in 2003. Robert choreographed for us after that for our first Connections series, but it wasn't until AbunDANCE: Joyful Noise that I found a place for Takademe. Ballet Memphis is often the first ballet company to acquire a signature work from well-known modern dance choreographers, and this is one of them. Our commitment to expand our audiences' experiences and our dancers' remarkable athleticism and skill are clearly manifest in this work. Enjoy it fully, as Ballet Memphis is the only ballet company in America with Robert's rights to perform it.

Ballet Memphis is also a company that has a uniquely American persona in its repertoire, its particular physicality, and its open and confident delivery. Over the years we have returned frequently to Mark Godden's glorious Angels in the Architecture, including our first performance in New York in 2000. Angels not only reflects a fascinating piece of American history in the Shaker community, the largest of which was north of us in Kentucky, but it is a bold and compelling work infused with the spirit of the profoundly stirring Aaron Copland score.

I have always felt that the coupling of Mark's poignant choreography with the ecstasy of this iconic American musical suite is a match made in heaven. It takes a very fine ballet company to dance this exacting work. The Shakers, just like those of us who believe in ballet, were idealists. Their hopes for purity and their belief that they could dance into heavenly bliss are tailored hand in glove with what we believe and practice at Ballet Memphis. For 25 years, we have believed in this capacity to look beyond the norm, and we are compelled to be those idealists, those explorers.

Thank you for your part in the journey. There is more wonder ahead.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

What I'm Grateful For

2011-12-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

What I am incredibly grateful for is the increasing awareness among our donors of how vitally important it is to support true artistic excellence in our city. Looking back on 25 years, I see that the foundations, many businesses, the city government under Mayor Wharton, and the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce and Arts Memphis are energetically embracing the creative spirit as a way of expressing what we can be as a city and as a community. They also understand how necessary it is to embrace the drive toward dreams—dreams that can inspire and express the community’s soul.

I also am grateful for the leadership of a number of arts organizations in this city, their goodwill, commitment to excellence, and collaborative and companionable spirit, particularly with us. Stax, Hattiloo, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Brooks Museum of Art, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Playhouse on the Square, the National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis College of Art, Collage dance Collective, Theatre Memphis, Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Opera Memphis—such good leadership and I am lucky to count them as friends.

This means that we are increasingly working together to make sure our art forms take a place in civic dialogue and civic progress, and include a wide embrace, so all people get a share at the feast.

I am so grateful that I, the lone Southerner, have been given the amazing opportunity to study with 100 of the finest arts leaders across the world in the NAS Executive Fellowship program. My first round at University of Michigan was exciting beyond words. And it is always affirming to see what high esteem Ballet Memphis is held in, both nationally and in some cases, globally. As we wrestle with questions no one has the answers for, in the middle of such rapid convergence, change, boundaries blurring, economies rising and falling, disparate media, it is my great fortune, and the fortune for Memphians who recognize that cultural upheaval provides great opportunities for innovation and creativity, to be part of this amazing group of thinkers.

I am thrilled that our collaboration with Collage dance Collective was so rewarding for all of us and that Nutcracker was the best ever. It was marvelous to have the Symphony back in the pit. Watching our professional dancers grow in partnerships, like Hideko and Kendall, or Ginny and Brandon, while Crystal and Rafael continue to have so much fun dancing together, is just a triple treat! Our trainees are so good this season and also so very willing to make a difference and be an inspiration, including going into the community centers with our childhood obesity program.

Reflecting also means ways we can see to grow:

There is still not enough understanding or appreciation for different leadership viewpoints and in artistic decision making, particularly the kind that asks for a less patriarchal, top-down approach, and involves expression of community and nest-building, for lack of a better word. That is something I look forward to addressing more, on a national front as well. And as the middle class shrinks and poverty increases across the United States, I hope the arts become a more vital voice in counteracting the fear, divisiveness, anger and finger-pointing, that can become so strident.

The opportunity to find instant information is breathtaking, but it also means that the opportunity for lies to spread to maintain power bases increases. Ultimately, arts groups that insist we be the best we can be, the most concerned, compassionate and committed to aspiring toward high standards, will give the most to all of us in the world.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Reaching and Teaching

2011-12-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

Before I moved here I knew that Ballet Memphis made a solid effort to connect with the community, but I could never imagine the reward it would give me once I joined the effort. I took something away from each of the 10 Connections:Kids performances we put on, but I think our first outreach had the great affect on me. I remember the performance vividly. We were putting on a production for about 30 kids in the effort to educate them on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Having never danced at a community center for such a young audience, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, once the bright-eyed elementary students walked in, their positive energy was contagious.

As the opening commercial played, I peeked around the screen to see the children's faces as Evan was dancing a kung-fu solo with a Pepsi commercial streaming behind him. I saw all their heads turning from the commercial back to the dancing, yelling with excitement whenever Evan jumped close to them. These kids were giving us all of their attention, so when the time came for me to perform to a Michael Jackson commercial with Elizabeth, (a fellow company member) I was ready to give all of that energy right back.

I didn't have to hold back around these kids, they were laughing and clapping as we wiggled our knees to the beat. At the end of the commercial, Karl Condon, Ballet Memphis' artistic director, told us to bring some of the kids onstage to dance with us. After we got a few kids up there, more were reaching out their hands for us to pull them on stage. I was so overwhelmed, I wanted to bring them all onstage. Two little girls then grabbed my hands and pulled me around while they hopped to the music. I couldn't help but smile.

The attention and interest the kids gave me was the most rewarding aspect of our outreach performances. That's what kept things exciting: a new type of audience and a new kind of reaction awaited us at each new community center. After almost every outreach, we would teach our audience a small dance to perform in front of their peers. The commitment the children had to picking up the choreography we presented gave me the ultimate satisfaction. I'm excited to see their reactions to contemporary ballet when we return to return to these community centers to perform in the spring. But most of all, I'm hoping some of the children feel inspired enough to perform for us so we can sit in the audience and cheer them on.

-- Carly Wheaton

Holidays Away From Home

2011-12-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Being away from home during the holiday season is something that has taken me a long time to get used to. My whole family lives in Scotland, and I have not been home for the holidays since 2002. Fortunately, though, I have my Memphis family to help get me into the holiday spirit.

Every year, the dancers who stay in town get together for a big potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Kendall takes care of making the turkey and his famous mac and cheese. (He is quite a master chef.) Julie makes potatoes and a delicious pie.

We usually give the turkey a name; last year I think we called her Birdadette. I am completely useless at cooking, but I am a great assistant and highly skilled with a sponge and some soapy water. Thanksgiving is a fun American holiday, and I really enjoy it before we start our run of the Nutcracker.

For Christmas, I spend the day with Rachel and her family in Olive Branch, Miss. Rachel’s grandmother is from England, and she always makes sure to bake me traditional mince meat pies. She also insists that I use her telephone to make as many long distance phone calls to Scotland as I want. I am so fortunate to have such a kind and generous family to invite me to share their holiday with them. I love them dearly.

I fondly remember a few holiday traditions from my childhood in Scotland. My birthday is December 13, and that was the day my Mum would let me put up the Christmas tree. Christmas day was spent at home or with my uncle and his family.

Scottish people love New Year’s Eve. We call it Hogmanay, and it is really just another excuse for our families to get together and party again. On New Year’s Eve we would get up early and eat breakfast, then my grandmother would come over. She is quite superstitious and believed that the whole house had to be cleaned and organized from top to bottom. She would say, “Ye canny go in tae the New Year wae yir hoose lookin’ a mess!” (I dare you to try and decipher that, ha!)

So we would spend the day cleaning, and then around 4 or 5 p.m. we would take a bath and my mum would put us to bed for a nap. She would wake us up around 10 p.m., and we would get ready for the big dinner she had made while we were asleep. We would eat stew or a steak pie (definitely not Haggis!), and my grandfather would eat mushy peas drowned in vinegar, which always grossed me out.

When the New Year arrived or "The Bells," as we called it, we would wait for friends or family to come over, and we would play and party until the wee hours of the morning. I am so thankful that I still have these memories after so long.

I would like to wish you a very happy holiday season. I hope that it is filled with love and happiness. If all your family can't be together, then please be sure to tell them that you love them and that no matter how far away they might be, that you will always be together at heart.

Happy Holidays.

-- Steven McMahon

My Experience with Connections:Kids

2011-11-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

Joining Ballet Memphis this year as a trainee has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. I was surprised and gratified to learn that those opportunities don't occur only in the ballet studio. Coming from Chicago, I received something of a crash course in understanding Memphis' neighborhoods, people and social dynamics through Connections:Kids.

I think it's safe to say that all of the members of Connections:Kids cast were a little dubious about traveling to some of Memphis' more unsavory neighborhoods to perform at community centers for inner-city children. We weren't sure how they would react to a group of obviously physically fit, fairly privileged teenagers and young adults telling them how to be healthy and what to eat.

Personally, I worried that the message our program was meant to communicate, about the benefits of proper nutrition and frequent exercise, would be a tough sell. i was worried that the kids wouldn't find anything to identify with in our performance or would be turned off by how different we seemed to be.

However, I was pleasantly surprised from the get-go by how enthusiastic our audiences were. From the start, the kids were fully engaged in our performance. The "oohs" and "aahs" were contagious as they watched Marcelino lift a girl above his head in a full-press lift. The kids were even more amazed by Bryn's multiple fouettes en pointe, and the fact that she wore her nose ring along with her tutu and pointe shoes was a source of amusement as well.

They clamoured to be part of our breakout groups after the show, where we taught them snippets of the choreography we had just performed. They kept coming back for more hugs, and they loved to show us their own dance moves. We even had a group of girls perform a fully formed routine that they had choreographed themselves, complete with counts and vocal accompaniment.

Connections:Kids may have been designed as a teaching tool for kids in underserved Memphis communities, but it taught our dancers something as well. I wasn't the only cast member less than thrilled to drive to neighborhoods in Memphis that prompt the warning "lock your doors and take all of your valuables inside with you." But at every single performance, we were greeted with appreciation and genuine excitement. Regardless of our perceived socioeconomic differences, the kids truly made the effort to connect to us as dancers and to the work we performed.

We had one performance in a center where a child had been shot and killed in the community a few days prior, and our audience was dramatically reduced because most of the children were attending the boy's funeral. Despite the somber circumstances, the center's director went on about how grateful he was that we had brought our art to share with his kids. I couldn't help but gain a little perspective from this experience.

What we do as dancers can't change the realities of everyday life. Many kids in Memphis will be lucky if their families have enough money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables every week, and the only exercise they might get will be in a gym or schoolyard. Some can't afford a ballet lesson, let alone a pair of pointe shoes. I know it sounds corny and maybe even self-congratulatory to say that sometimes the most we can do is inspire them.

But I have to say that with the kids I met during Connections:Kids, the inspiration was a two-way street. They greeted us with open hearts, full of affection, energy and eagerness to learn, and as a performer, you can't ask for a better audience than that.

-- Elizabeth Mensah

My Memphis Story

2011-11-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and as always, it's a time to reflect on the things in our lives that we may take for granted any other week of the year. This year, I can't help but be grateful that I'm in Memphis. It's been at the front of my mind during my commute to work each morning as I've passed the beautiful trees dressed in the vibrant colors this season has brought. I think it has been an exceptionally lovely autumn and has made me appreciate the beauty of my hometown more than usual.

This city is special to me and I am blessed to call it my home. Not many dancers are as fortunate as I am to have been born in a city with such a fabulous ballet company. When my parents enrolled me at Ballet Memphis (then Memphis Concert Ballet) as a 5-year-old, I'm sure they had no idea that their choice of ballet schools would basically design the course of my life. I loved growing up in the school and all the opportunities that came along with being a Ballet Memphis student. I remember watching and admiring the professional dancers.

As a Junior Company member, I got to dance with the company in many of their mainstage productions. I'm sure had I not loved every second of those experiences, I wouldn't have chosen to become a professional dancer. As a junior at White Station High School, I knew that I wanted to dance professionally, but not just with any company. I wanted to be a part of the company I had grown up adoring. I remember discussing with my parents that I could try it for a year and if it wasn't for me, I could always go to college and choose a different path. That first trial year as a 17-year-old apprentice was followed by six additional years that seemed to fly by.

I spent 2008-2009 with The Trey McIntyre Project, but following that year, I came home to Memphis to heal a shin fracture. After taking a year off from ballet completely, I returned to Ballet Memphis and felt more at home than ever. The two years away from this company, made it so evident to me where my heart wanted to be. I am so deeply connected to this city and this ballet company. I feel that they both have greatly formed important parts of my identity.

Now, as I'm in the middle of my ninth season with the company, I love running into people that I went to high school with or other girls that I grew up with in the Junior Company who have since gone in different directions. Just this morning, while having brunch at Brother Juniper's, I ran into an old friend, reminding me that Memphis is just a very big small town. I love that I have a history here with family and friends. I've always thought it a great privilege to dance for people I know and who know me. With Nutcracker just a couple of weeks away, I'm remembering my Saturday evening show last year, where so many of my friends and family were at the Orpheum to see me perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy. I think I had nearly 70 people in the audience! It was a magical night, but I always feel a bond with our Memphis audience because I've been performing here for so long now.

I am so thankful to call Memphis home. And I'm equally grateful to have found such a wonderful home with Ballet Memphis. What better time to ponder all of this than during Thanksgiving. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday this week and will take a few moments to think about all the wonderful things our city has to offer, especially Ballet Memphis. See you all at Nutcracker.

-- Virginia Pilgrim

Nutcracker in Today's Society

2011-11-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Recently, a large headline in The Commercial Appeal jumped out at me:

NEW RESEARCH FINDS PEACE BREAKING OUT IN THE WORLD

Honestly, how many times has any headline news been so wonderful? It reminded me of one of the reasons why we might see far more dismaying items about humanity than we do hopeful ones. I recently saw a study showing that human beings are more drawn to sorrow than happiness. We look for sadness, or for fear and anger. This may be because for so many thousands of years we had to protect our caves and our grains and our children from marauders of some kind. But, if the trends the research cited in this recent article continue, we may soon find that we are, as a species, choosing hope over cynicism, creativity over destruction, and love over the violence and discord our fears can engender.

I truly believe that when you choose to attend something beautiful, excellent and idealistic, as you do when you buy a Ballet Memphis Nutcracker ticket, you are coming down on the side of peace, hope and optimism. If there ever was a story that celebrates the capacity of our innocent childlike nature to triumph, to imagine a beautiful world where dreams come true, it is in this ballet. The world of giving, of sharing, starts at the beginning of the story when Clara is given her party dress, and it goes on until the curtain descends. A lovely party is given for friends and family. Gifts are passed out to all the children. A fallen rose is passed on to a shy teenage girl. Gingerbread cookies are available to each departing guest. And when the Nutcracker is broken, he is given care by Herr Drosselmeyer's bandaging him, and of course, by even more of Clara's love.

And when Clara is given a struggle to overcome in the Battle Scene, she does so, and then journeys to a more perfect world, where all await to dance their particular culture’s dance in gratitude for the young child’s bravery, and celebrating her affection for her Nutcracker. Weapons have been cast aside in favor of dancing, frankly. If that isn’t looking forward to better, more peaceful times, what is?

In this wonderful time of the year when many people of many faiths gather their loved ones together, Ballet Memphis is honored that you chose our Nutcracker as a place to experience these moments of hope, of peace, of delight, of real human beauty. We would love for you to gather with us elsewhere as well, in the rest of our professional company’s performances this season, in our nurturing Ballet Memphis School and our excellent STOTT PILATES® classes, in support of our reach into the community with our Stax mentoring, Youth Villages work, Dance Avenue programs in the public schools, and our childhood obesity dance program with community centers.

When you leave this theatre, we hope you will return throughout the year to the feelings you brought here and left with, when you stopped to choose what is hopeful about human beings giving joyfully to one another, so that the peace of this season will continue to grow and spread in our lives and throughout the world.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Nutcracker: Through the Years

2011-11-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Being a part of Ballet Memphis’s production of Nutcracker is one of the best experiences that I have ever had. Auditioning is just step one of the process. For me, auditions are nerve-wracking yet very exhilarating; year after year I audition, but each time it is just as difficult. When I walk into an audition hundreds of thoughts rush through my mind all at once. I hear thoughts telling me to relax or focus, while at the same time I am asking myself if am I doing my best and is my best good enough? I personally believe that auditions are the hardest part of a production process.

Step two: Cast list. Waiting for the email or waiting to see the cast list takes patience. The day that I finally see the email notifying me of my role in Nutcracker is always an exciting day. Although it is a disappointment if I do not get the role I want, I have realized that it is an honor to be a part of the production, and every role is important. The roles that I have received in the Nutcracker have been polichinelle, soldier, party girl, supernumerary, and this year, angel. Although the role of angel seems to be a promising new favorite, I would have to say that being in the party scene has been my favorite thus far. In the party scene, some of the boys and girls are privileged to dance with the company members and interact with them. Something that makes Ballet Memphis so special is the relationship between the company dancers and the students. Being in a production in which there is an opportunity to dance with the professional company is incredible.

The rehearsal process, step three, is one of my favorite phases in producing a show. I love seeing the growth and development that occurs over the course of a couple of months. Step four: performance time. Before a performance, the Junior Company takes warm-up classes backstage. The warm-up classes put us all in the Christmas spirit as we dance to various Christmas classics and attempt the fun yet challenging combinations that go along with the music. The dressing rooms are always full of laughter and enthusiasm. Some dancers sing along to Nutcracker music while helping others with their hair, make-up or costumes. For many of us, we thoroughly enjoy the student performances, hearing Mr. Condon interact with the students each year before the show reminding them of the ballet etiquette in a fun manner. I love to watch from the wings because you get to see the show from a different perspective, and being a dancer you notice things that the audience might not be able to see or recognize. Performing on stage in the Orpheum and seeing the entire show put together is very rewarding. The last performance always brings bittersweet emotions, and everyone is trying to make it his or her best performance. While some know that they will not be back until the following year, others realize that this is their last opportunity to perform Nutcracker on the Orpheum stage.

-- Mollie Marshall
Mollie, a 9th grader at Hutchison, is in her third year with the Junior Company. She's been with Ballet Memphis since she was little, and is currently in Ballet 8, the top level. This year will be Mollie's fifth year to perform in Ballet Memphis' Nutcracker.

Balancing Act

2011-10-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have been a dancer with Ballet Memphis since 2004. I met the man of my dreams in Memphis, and we got married on July 3, 2010; we just celebrated our one-year anniversary!

It has been hard balancing my professional dance career, teaching Pilates and ballet, choreographing for the Company and the Junior Company, and being a supportive wife.

Matthew, my husband, is in theater, working as a freelance lighting and scenic designer. Some months he works on three or four shows at a time and is rarely home. And now that I am teaching Pilates before and after my own class, I work 12-hour days sometimes, so I’m not home very long at night.The great thing is that he absolutely loves dance and loves to design lights for dance, and we have a mutual respect for one another’s art.

Usually, when I have a Ballet Memphis performance, he is also in the middle of putting on a show, so we are constantly missing each other. But when time permits, he is at every show/rehearsal of ours, and the same goes for me for his productions.

I will admit, performing in a theater all the time, and then on your day off going to the theater to see your husband’s show is difficult, but then I get to sit back and enjoy his talents. We usually make a date night out of it by going to dinner before the show and trying to catch up on each other’s lives.

The best part of having Matthew as my husband is that we are a team. He is my constant support system, my own personal foot masseur, and my very dearest friend to go to with my problems. And to know that there is someone rooting for you in the audience is a wonderful feeling.

-- Julie Niekrasz

Playing a Part

2011-10-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Working on a character role is something that I find incredibly challenging and welcoming at the same time. It produces different obstacles when performing a role. You not only have to execute the steps properly but also understand who your character is and the way that they would perform the choreography. On the other hand, dancing a character role gives you guidance in how the steps should be done because the work is often initiated by the role you are playing. Your direction is truly derived from within.

Dancing the role of the Nurse in Steven McMahon’s Romeo and Juliet was truly a gift. I was given the foundation of who my character was and the choreography by Steven, but was given the freedom to develop her and her relationship with each of the women playing Juliet. It was one of the first times on stage that I really felt like I was performing a character role that I continuously could grow and feed. Being in control of the evolution of my character from the beginning of the ballet to its tragic end created a new experience each time I stepped foot onto the stage.

The role of Cupid in Trey McIntyre’s The Naughty Boy is another character role that I find intriguing. Cupid is a mischievous, somewhat androgynous character who likes to take part in a little friendly meddling in the relationships of four different couples. The character is an interesting duality of both masculine and feminine qualities, not a far cry from my strengths as a dancer. The part is technically very difficult but is made easier with the fact that the style of the choreography and the character coincide with one another. I was fortunate to be involved in the creation of this part when it premiered in 2004 and had the opportunity to perform it here in Memphis and at the Joyce Theater in New York in 2007. I am very excited to have the opportunity to revisit this work at a different point in my life and career. Like all things that we do in dance, character role or not, it is our life experiences as human beings that so strongly define who we are as artists.

Pictured practicing The Little Prince at First Congo during one of Ballet Memphis' Open Rehearsals.

2BLoved

2011-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

A little prince and a naughty boy...don't you think we can all say we understand something of both? The ability to be elegant and the ability to make mischief? Throughout the history of art, there are countless times where the youngest ones tell us what we need to see, hear, and do, in order to understand and value life. Often, it is the most innocent who are the closest to what is most meaningful.

Pairing these two pieces is no accident. In The Naughty Boy, Cupid is manifesting our yearning to make sense of our loves, our relationships, those extraordinarily momentous happenings that bring us together. Is it happenstance? Is there a plan? Even if we do not have the answers, there are certainly times where our hearts soar and life feels like a lark. Cupid shoots a weapon but is love a wound? After all, our hearts are pierced. The initial love potion is strong, and delightful, but a wound, nonetheless. And our Cupid in this ballet has a tongue-in-cheek twist--he's a girl! There are no hard answers here. Our assumptions, our secure and comfortable boundaries, must be set aside if we are going to romp along with this ethereal creature. Choreographer Trey McIntyre planted a coonskin cap on his all-girl Tennessee Cupid, and takes us on a mad dash, pell-mell through a work created on Ballet Memphis that only wonderfully trained professional ballet dancers can execute. It was a hit when we premiered it in Memphis in 2004 and it was a hit when we performed it in New York in 2007. We are pleased to bring it back as we launch our 25th main stage anniversary season.

Ballet Memphis Artistic Associate and former San Francisco principal ballet dancer Julia Adam has reshaped and restaged her The Little Prince for us. Based on the French classic by Antoine de Saint Exupery, how timely this story is! The narrator, a pilot who has crashed in the desert, finds his days there far from barren. The Little Prince has arrived from a very small and fragile planet, and he sees things so much differently than a world-weary grown-up. Things are not what they seem. With a simple message like that, when a hat is really an elephant swallowed by a boa constrictor, we are being told not only that things are not what they seem, but sometimes there are deeper messages we are missing while we are rushing around. And we are being asked if we are taking care of a small piece of the world given to us, as the Little Prince has done on his planet? We actually are living in a time when so much evidence points to the need for us to take care of our earth, yet there is a loud national cry against this very apparent truth. Today, I fear the Little Prince’s tenderness toward his rose would meet a chorus of fear and denial which might even overwhelm those who beg us to take responsibility for our actions on our planet.

Our Little Prince innately is drawn to accepting the world around him and is curious about other worlds. The geographer tells him that flowers are not recorded, "because they are ephemeral." I find this a particularly poignant place in this narrative, to hear the thought that things that are "ephemeral" are discounted. In reality, isn't everything on earth ephemeral? And our art form itself, one moment of beauty after another, seized and released as the dance unfolds before our eyes, is overwhelmingly so. Is there not something tellingly true about valuing each moment given to us, because that is all we have within each moment we are alive? This ephemeral quality, this moment by moment miracle, is a reason to value beautiful dance.

When the Little Prince "tames" the Fox, and makes him a friend, he learns how beautiful and how painful attachment can be. (Remember Cupid's arrows?) As he thinks of the rose on his planet he has loved, nurtured, and protected, his heart has been pierced by what he has loved. The fox teaches him a concept which great artists, and great spiritual leaders are deeply tied to---"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye...It is the time you have wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important...You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

Think of the many things we love–and tame–in our lives. Do we waste our time on beauty? On the life earth gives us? The Little Prince knows that far away, unseen to him, are his planet and rose he loves. He believes in what he now cannot see. If there is one sacred thing that artist bring to our lives, it is the belief that there are worlds, people, things, and ideas we have not yet seen, things we cannot see. Our imaginations, fueled by love, justice, and curiosity, can be a part of creating these things, or illuminating them, or discovering them. We vividly picture deep within our hearts what we believe might be possible---and we write it, we sing it, we paint it, and dance it.

As we commence our main stage 25th anniversary season with these two beautifully crafted works by these internationally respected choreographers who have been closely associated with us over the years, let's promise to value what we cannot see, except perhaps in our imagination, our dreams, our hopes. Let's remember to waste time on the things in life that won't be "recorded" because they are "ephemeral." Art and heart sound very similar, don't they? Let's touch each others' hearts; let's use art to help us see what cannot be measured, but is incalculable.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Pictured top left, Ballet Memphis company members Crystal Brothers and Travis Bradley, as well as former company member Dawn Fay perform The Naughty Boy in New York in 2007.

Reaching the Community, One Child at a Time

2011-10-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

This year, Ballet Memphis, in conjunction with the Junior League of Memphis and ArtsMemphis, started Connections:Kids, a new program that will focus on healthy movement and nutritional education to combat the everyday media influences. Karl Condon, our Associate Artistic Director, writes about some of his outreach experience with Connections:Kids.

I pulled up to the Whitehaven Community Center and immediately scouted for the rental truck, found the rear entrance, and scoped out the space. It was our third performance of Connection:Kids and “Yes!”, we were dancing in the gym! Boys were still playing some round-ball, but we could load-in shortly. We kicked out the floor and set up the large movie screen as several young ladies watched with interest, shyly dancing a jig and a jump so we could see, and I spoke to some young boys to ask if they would dance with us today, the answer being vehemently “no!”. I thought I had just found my first ‘volunteer’.

The clock hit the top of the hour and we were ready to perform. Although we had a small audience at first, it quickly grew with the wide open doors and corridors giving ample access, and the loud music garnering interest. Evan danced a wonderful minute-and-a-half solo to a witty cola commercial, and got the kid’s attention quickly. I strode into the space, iconic red labeled soda in hand, (I tell the kids I’m not picking on any particular brand), and called my young new friend up to join me. I handed him a box of sugar and a spoon, while I held a plastic baggy. I asked the audience to yell and stop his generous scoopings when they thought the sugar in the baggy equalled the sugar in the drink. “Six!” “No.” “Eight!” “No.” “TEN!!” “Well if it was a can, it’d be ten, but this was a larger bottle.” “Stop!”, came the final shout at twelve teaspoons full. Sure the teaspoons were generous, but it makes for an effective demonstration.

We danced our “Cola Montage”, the beautiful dancers clad all in white to “pop” under the dimmed lights and in front of the rear projected movies. The choreography breaks into a free-for-all with the ten professional dancers working into the audience for a spontaneous dance party to the music of Michael Jackson, on the Marley floor. It’s loud. It’s bordering on out of control. It’s just the way I like it. I kept the children in the space, taught them the choreography from the funny Jimmy Fallon commercial, and they performed for the company dancers. All of a sudden they weren’t so shy any more.

Our “Burger Montage” was next on the menu and the expected ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ when the dancers did the ‘splits’ were delightfully right on cue. We recited and learned the words to the Big Mac song, and shared a little interactive time, just a few things about exercise, play, good health, and being happy. Time was moving swiftly and we continued on to our final dance.

The kids are too young to remember the Saturday Morning Public Service Announcements I chose for the last montage. They are pithy and border on obnoxious, but are perfect for the dances and our message. Bryn performed her fouettes with aplomb and no one fell off of the seated grapevine lift in the ‘Square Dance’. The dancers introduced themselves, told where they were from and we all took a few questions from the children. Four of the professionals then broke the children into groups and taught them simple choreography which they performed for each other in front of the screen. I had a chance to mingle with the adults while everyone was so diligently working, accept some compliments and hopefully strengthen our relationship with the Center and its Director. The youngsters in the audience were given a homework assignment to create something for us, a song, dance, or commercial, to perform for us when we return. I can’t wait until the Spring!

--Karl Condon

Restaging and Reteaching a Work

2011-10-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

One of the works in 2BLoved is Naughty Boy, a fast-paced favorite of many in the community. Since performing it last, however, we have many new dancers and a new, more intimate theatre. Ballet Mistress Tamara Hoffmann gives a glimpse inside the challenges of restaging such a piece.

What are my biggest challenges restaging and reteaching a work? It is an overwhelming amount of work!

Restaging or reteaching a work that has been done before is perhaps one of the most time consuming processes in dance. If there are nine dancers in a piece, and it is 25 minutes long, you have to make sure everyone knows exactly what, when, and where they are doing their steps for the entire piece.

In Naughty Boy, there are 4 different couples who dance as a pair, and at various times as an ensemble. There is also a soloist Cupid role who interacts with all the different couples. In 8 counts of music many, many steps can happen, and with several different people, you have to know the music, the steps, and the arrangement of the different bodies on the stage.

It is an enormous amount of information to learn, and teach. The dancers are very helpful in the process, and have to be quick on their feet (in more ways than one.) Someone has to have the overall knowledge of the entire piece and its many components or it can be chaos!

In dance, we have a very large vocabulary of steps that is understood by all professional dancers, but there are endless additional body movements and gestures that don't have names. They have to be learned in great detail.

Especially in more contemporary ballet based work, the movement possibilities are endless. It is a much faster pace than a classical piece like Swan Lake, which is also incredibly difficult – in its own right. However, in Swan Lake, there aren't as many different movements packed into a phrase of music.

Once the dancers know the steps, we work on the execution of the total piece. Like any professional athlete, the physical component has to be worked on and constantly perfected. Dance is an art form, and is made up of so much more than just difficult physical movement. It's made up of nuances, musicality, movement quality, emotions and the overall artistic vision. It's combining the two that makes coaching fun.

When choosing a particular dancer for a piece, I find that it is helpful to knowing their particular style and body. I know what individual dancers may excel in or struggle with in a movement or phrase, and that affects how we cast the ballet. Once we cast the overall ballet, we focus on a dancers' specific role. From there, I can anticipate problems with certain skills and just give that
section a little more rehearsal. Of course, there are always surprises.

In Naughty Boy, Stephanie Mei Hom is cast in the lead role of Cupid. It is a whimsical, playful part, but it requires incredible athleticism and complex musicality, which she has! Hideko Karasawa is also learning it. She has the technique, but now we
will work on more strength and her delivery, as well as finding her own personality.

Crystal Brothers and Rafael Ferreras are cast as the lead couple and dance one of the most difficult complex pas de deuxs I have ever seen; they are incredible together. With his strength, and her agility, it is truly magic! We are having lots of fun putting it together. Virginia Pilgrim and Brandon Ramey are also learning it, which makes another wonderful partnership.

We've been working on this piece for several weeks now, many hours a day. We can't wait to show this piece to you in a few short weeks!

--Tamara Hoffmann

A Dancer's Perspective

2011-09-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

My first season with Ballet Memphis has been full of fun, sweat, and dancing. I had a lot to do in this first show (Connections:Food, our annual fundraiser and season kickoff) so I really got to work with a bunch of the dancers. It was a wonderful introduction into this thriving family of people. Everyone is very committed and open-making for a fast, engaging work process, which I love.

I really enjoyed that I was able to not only dance with my colleagues but also be part of their creative process. Travis Bradley’s piece, which was inspired by diamonds, was a wonderful challenge for me. I got to dance a long duet with Kendall, and I learned so much. I have done a lot of partnering but when the woman is replaced with a man, things change. You have to find new was to share weight and balance your force in a different way. I was so happy that Travis pushed me in this new territory and trusted me to navigate it.

Julie Niekrasz was a pleasure to work with on her piece. She created a very real world for us to dance in and guided us to define our own characters in it. I found new ways to connect with my fellow dancers. I also got to finish the piece with a gorgeous duet with Stephanie Hom. It was so effortless to partner with her, and I was able to lose myself in the “home” we had created between our shared space.

Matthew Neenan is a person I have wanted to work with, and I feel fortunate that our paths crossed here in Memphis. This piece was different in that I was more of a lone character. With the other dances, I felt I was defined by my relationship with my partners whereas with Matthew and I created a person outside of others. I had a great time during the process and in performing Matt’s piece. As my first performance with this amazing company, Connections:Food was perfect. I got to know my fellow dancers and ballet supporters while having a great time dancing.

--Dylan G-Bowley

Pictured top left, performing in Julie Marie Niekrasz's On the Inside, opposite Stephanie Mei Hom. Photo courtesy of Christopher Blank. Pictured bottom right, Dylan came to Ballet Memphis from TMP.

Food for Thought

2011-09-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

This Saturday at BRIDGES we bring back what many people think of as the best event in Memphis–Connections: Food. It's also the beginning of our 2011/12 celebration of 25 years of innovative, inspiring, professional dance. In nourishing our bodies and souls, this creative event sets the “barre," so I asked the choreographers to think about the concept of design. As they have worked with their chefs and others, look what has resulted:

You will be treated to an appetizer inspired by diamonds---did you know that long ago, they were thought to have been bits of stars that had fallen to the earth? First, enjoy Karen Carrier’s outdoor signature “Bling Bling” cocktail, Apalachicola oysters, steamed shrimp in lime sauce, steak crostini, and more. Remember Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star and Put It in Your Pocket? This is one song Travis Bradley used to capture a choreographic gem of purity and innocence that makes your heart smile and has inspired the wonderful first course, Diamonds in the Raw, of sashimi, blue fin tuna gravlax, ponzu brown butter, jeweled wasabi tobiko, candied lime zest and shiso mint sorbet by Chef Mindy Son.

Julie Niekrasz thought about how the wallpaper watches what would go on in a room over the years. (And she chose as one of her songs Unchained Melody with the Righteous Brothers singing.) So Chef Chef Shaggy Duffee from Bayona in New Orleans created Homespun, duck paillard, swiss chard carbonara, cracklin’ and grappa-macerated cherries.

The main course’s work, choreographed by rising new creative dance maker Matthew Neenan from Philadelphia, is a response to a painting by Arshile Gorky, "Water of the Flowering Mill.” It is a fiendishly fiery, rollicking concoction, and when you see what our dancers are given to do, you will know once again why our company is honored nationwide. And former Memphian Ellis Dixon has designed a rich pallet of costumes to accompany the espresso dark-chile chocolate and black pepper roasted lamb loin, butternut squash parmesan and garlic mash, and negroamaro fig demi-glace by Chef Jason Severs.

Kendall Britt’s work closes the evening for the dessert course, based on what he thought of as the way human beings can design their own happiness. And, zydeco composer and artist Marcella Simien wrote the music for this warm and gently happy work…accompanied by Chef Jenny Dempsey’s fudgey euphoria: dreamy chocolate fudge, red sea salt, white chocolate red peppercorn gelato and rose sugar.

I can't wait to take my seat at the table, hopefully, beside you.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Dancing Through Life

2011-09-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

I started taking ballet lessons with Dorothy Gunther Pugh at Memphis Concert Ballet when I was in the first grade. I do not remember much about those early years, but my mother tells me I was Mrs. Pugh's shadow. While the other children would wait patiently for her to demonstrate the steps, I would follow closely behind, too excited to notice I was the only student chasing her across the room.

I love dance; it has always thrilled me. I even love watching other people dance, because I believe dance is a part of all of us. I was fortunate to find ballet as a vehicle for my artistic expression. While growing up in the Ballet Memphis School, I was encouraged to use my imagination to develop my passion. I was taught to work hard with integrity and discipline.

There were five years of classes before I was allowed to audition for the Junior Company. The day I was accepted I remember thinking, "This is the greatest day of my life." I was right. In the Junior Company I was introduced to the beauty of performing. Being part of the Junior Company gave me the opportunity to share all that I had learned and loved with others. While working with Ms. Parke, I learned the importance of connecting to others through my dancing. She gave me countless insights on using movement to convey story and emotion, and always pushed me to explore and work on my own.

After graduating high school, I was offered a trainee position with the company. I did not know at the time that I was stepping into a new world of possibility, but what a beautiful experience it has been dancing with Ballet Memphis. I continue to be inspired by my fellow dancers every day. Their commitment and talent is life-changing, and I am always amazed at their generosity on stage, how they give so much of themselves to the work. Ballet Memphis is unique and I cannot imagine my life without it. It has become my second home, where I am pushed to love more, give honestly and never give up. I am grateful that Ballet Memphis is also a place where I can pass my experience along to someone else who might also find hope in its beauty.

-- Rachel Shumake

Pictured top left, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Memphis Redbirds game. Her red pointe shoes were from The Wizard of Oz. Pictured bottom right, Rachel appeared on the front cover of Ballet Memphis' 25th Anniversary season mailer.

Designing My Happiness

2011-09-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

I'm incredibly honored to be choreographing my first commission piece for Ballet Memphis. It's a lot of hard work and extra hours spent outside of the studio thinking about a concept and figuring out ways to make what I want to say 'danceable'. I'm collaborating with a local musician and artist on this ballet. Fille Catatonique is the eclectic sound of Marcella René Simien. Her original music and art work, as well as stories, coincide with my theme of the design of happiness. We are both young people and artists figuring out our paths in this world. It's been even more eye opening to share thoughts and ideas back and forth with someone who is so talented, and in another artistic field.

I fell in love with Marcella's music over the summer and it was obvious to me from the beginning that I would use her works and catalog. Her voice is so full of love and pain and sorrow, all things we experience on our road to happiness.

--Kendall G. Britt, Jr.

2011-08-29T12:27:00.001-07:00

A question for the AD ... “How do you acclimate new dancers to the Ballet Memphis family and to the larger community of Memphis?”

I start the assimilation process by watching each dancer carefully during auditions. I am not just watching technique and body type. I am closely looking at faces to see what I can discern about a personality—how one listens, observes, processes, thinks and puts personal spirit into his or her presence. After auditions, I always have conversations with the people I’ve kept in whom I feel are of interest. I also talk with them about the things that make Memphis an interesting city, still being honest that we have challenges to work on as a community. So the first parts of assimilation begin the moment a dancer walks into an audition. When it comes time to offer contracts to my first choices, I learn more about these dancers through additional conversations. I also encourage them to talk to dancers in the company about who we are, how we work, what we believe in.

With new and returning company members alike, I just try to keep the exchange of ideas open—to talk with them about values of thinking; giving our talents to our community in ways that are meaningful; and why particular roles they are dancing matter in our human conversations. That is, after all, what performance is: a conversation about life with our audience. And as public people, we have to possess sort of a sixth sense about what matters to others because we serve them, even if we aren’t “talking” when we dance. Whether onstage or off, we are still talking with our bodies, and we have to be intuitive and feeling enough to “hear” what others’ responses are to us.

I always want dancers to understand that they live in the world, not to think that dance is the world. We have talents we bring to others, and we need to be curious, thoughtful and respectful of people who may be different or have chosen different ways to be in the world.

This photo was taken the first day of contract before all the dancers took their first class together. It's been a great two weeks thus far, and looking forward to a wonderful anniversary season.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Reaching Further

2011-08-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

For some, an anniversary is a time of reflection. Although it is for us as we celebrate 25 years, we also see it as a chance to lift Memphis higher, and reach even further into our community. During this special season we are embarking on an unprecedented nine tours from Florida to California; beginning a new Connections: Kids series to help battle childhood obesity; taking our FUSE program into STAX Music Academy; and even starting a new Pas de Brew free studio event for our patrons. But not unlike our other seasons we're also presenting six new works, including ones from Julia Adam, Matthew Neenan, Steven McMahon, Travis Bradley, Julie Niekrasz and Kendall Britt. Take a look at our 25th season, and let us know your thoughts, buy a season ticket, attend a performance or an outreach, even volunteer. We know we wouldn't be where we are today without all of the patrons, donors, students, corporations, dancers, staff, choreographers and more; but we also know that when we work together, we reach further.

Earth and Sky

2011-05-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Source

As we bring our glorious professional company and creativity to, yet again, a new venue—the grove at Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek—what better way to celebrate than to connect our thoughts and minds to the natural world around us. Stopping to think about how distinctly valuable and vital the earth is to who we are, how we have been formed and what future we leave to our descendants is imperative, and can help us stop and be grateful for our bountiful surroundings.

With the three choreographers whom I engaged in making these new works based on water, earth and sky, I was most specific with Mikelle Bruzina. Last June, when Ballet Memphis performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., I happened to take in a startlingly beautiful exhibit at the Renwick Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Museums. The exhibit was called The Art of Gaman and was based on the amazing art that Japanese American citizens made while interred in camps during WWII, two of which were just across the river in Arkansas. While that chapter in our history is a shameful one, what I saw was the indomitable spirit of survival and perhaps even gratitude for the earth around them.

These citizens created impressive work from stones, seeds, pipes, sticks and nearby materials on the ground. It was breathtaking yet poignantly sad and wonderful. The will to survive, to stay grounded and sane, was seen in their engagement in creating beautiful objects from their surroundings. Mikelle’s mother and grandparents were in one of these camps, so her sensitivity and
history were perfect for this project. So, as you see our Hideko born aloft like a bird, think about this: the earth is what grounds us, even as we reach upward in flight for hope, release, light and freedom.

Petr Zahradníček has actually studied meteorology, so the fact that he chose clouds to think about was no surprise. He uses their formation, change and dispersal to express his fear that human beings might realize too late that we must cherish and take care of our earth and its atmosphere. The very breath that gives us life is gently at the base of this abstract and tender work.

Julia Adam looks at water in her own inimitable and interesting way. As water touches us so often, you will see divining, sailing, swimming—and be reminded about how taking a plunge might mean a myriad of different possibilities, both real and metaphorical. As water lays in various pools around us, or flows through our earth, how can we not think of the timeliness of this new work?

Across the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese people are trying to deal with an environmental disaster of huge proportions. The river we live beside has crested to new flood levels, and the sky has been gray and twisted into tornadoes that have damaged huge swaths of land, buildings and lives all around us. Yet we gather together with family and friends to think carefully and enjoy fully the better side of who we can be, dancing again to tell our stories and explore our connections to each other and to our world.

Staying Power Part 2

2011-04-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

He has told the story of Romeo and Juliet’s passionate and youthful love for one another, one that eliminates the separate self and expands into a new entity, an exaltation of existence beyond and bigger than who they are separately. This is, in my mind, one of the most important stories we share in our human life. We repeatedly search for something that is bigger than we are, call it God, the divine, the greater consciousness, infinite belonging, whatever you choose. When we have lost touch with it, as we inevitably do in our human fallibility and frailty, some form of deep sadness, and far too often tragedy and suffering, befall us and those around us. In the brief space of this story this is the journey we take together.

Ballet can be so beautiful. Its idealistic form and vocabulary is in almost continual consummation. Dancers and audience become one in our Romeo & Juliet, vividly present in the moment of life and death, reaching deep within to go beyond limitations. Indeed, the journey is exhilarating and often exhausting. It is not a place in time or space for people who do not want to feel the bare, the acute that puts us starkly in touch with life and death, just as this story of Romeo and Juliet does.

In this, our ballet, human mutability, utter ecstasy and destructive tragedy confront us, leaving us what? I hope with the belief that we must identify our worst in order to support our best. I hope with an understanding that we must continually try harder to forgive. I hope with the reminder that we must build a world where our young are given love’s expansiveness, not the constrictive fear of those who are different or those with whom we disagree.

Enter if you dare—to be delighted or to be profoundly shaken. But if we do not enter its world, we cut ourselves off from our self, from one another and from the promise we could each fulfill before our own story ends.

Staying Power

2011-04-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

The staying power of certain age-old stories continues to strike me with awe and appreciation. When those stories are retold in various forms of artistic communication, we see our continued need to be in touch with our deep urges and desires, and to relearn (hopefully with a more resonant understanding), where those urges may lead us, good and bad.

Enter if you dare into this heart-wrenching narrative of first love, its capacity for self-annihilation, where two become one—only to be destroyed by the petty hatreds and jealousies of those in power. (Here it is the parents.) Youthful bliss, hopes and dreams come crashing down, crushed by the burdens and missteps of age-old prejudices, happenstance and uncontrolled tempers. When all is said and done, when the beautiful Prokofiev score ends, let us hope we have within ourselves to own our capacities and actions not only for bliss, but for wickedness and pain, for destruction of innocence, and for the lifelong process of forgiveness.

While watching this work’s creation by our astute, sensitive choreographic associate Steven McMahon, I have witnessed a significant step forward in his understanding of human nature and ballet’s ability to express that nature. This has been apparent to our dance artists also, and their responses show their growth as they reach deeply into a wellspring of discovery. This choreographer is not one who glosses over the weight of the story he is asked to illuminate. He is a young person with an old soul.

We Tell Memphis' Story

2011-03-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked to answer the question of why I, along with the rest of the Ballet Memphis family, do "Memphis Project" works.

My answer is always, "How can we not?"

This city is so unique and culturally rich and diverse, how can we not tell its story? Our culture is reflective of so many trends that have contributed to changing the world. There was this convergence of white music and black music right here in Memphis. Rock-and-roll and soul music both exploded here. So it seems appropriate that this city also offers a place in art to address questions about who really does sit at the table and how we express the questions of humanity living together.

I also wanted to show the rest of the country what a fabulous place this is, the one that we're all fortunate enough to call home. Even for those who have lived here, either all their lives or just recently, deserve to know and celebrate our history and influence. We have so much to be proud of.

As part of the Memphis Project, we try to dance works that show the political and social aspects of our community that affect each of us on a different level. Last year, we had the honor and privilege to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts. We presented Trey McIntyre’s In Dreams, which was inspired by the repertoire of Roy Orbison. Trey, who spent seven years with us as choreographer-in-residence, has captured the heart and soul of Memphis with the inspiration and use of the music of Memphis. And as we all know, the history of Roy Orbison and Memphis music is proud and deep.

Ultimately, we commission, choreograph and dance new and exciting works because we know that’s what our community wants and needs. Our wonderful staff “mine” the musical, literary, social and political history of this place we call home to find stories that resonate with Memphians, Southerners and art lovers alike.

Ask yourself this... part 2

2011-02-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

As Emily’s and Lasso’s work evolved, they reached out to the musical life in Memphis to listen carefully to what our community could bring to their search. The dancers are asked to give very internal, individual responses to the music and then take that feeling and widen it as they dance in groups. Lasso’s experience in Africa, Emily’s in the U.S., and the work built in Memphis are all steps in a process Emily and Lasso are producing at Yale University and in Burkina Faso. Now, they have added Ballet Memphis – and we are glad to support them. I would say that their deliberate, thoughtful process itself is a manifestation of work in community, among people reaching across barriers to go forward to create avenues of understanding.

Jane Comfort’s new premiere I Will Follow Him: A Brief History closes our program with a romp through the women’s story since 1950, and part of her preparation was Susan Douglas’ work Where the Girls Are and Gail Collins recent best-seller, When Everything Changed. For many of us, this will be a trip down memory lane, and a birthday celebration of sorts. But look carefully, and think carefully. How much more must be done? What do we expect of ourselves, of our daughters, our partners, our leaders? Who is listening? Who is seeing? What are we saying? How are we, in effect, continuing to present ourselves? According to us, according to others? Are we continuing to encourage both men and women, all children, all people, to support one another’s dreams and journeys?

If we believe our work as supporters of one another in different kinds of community is important, how do we help our nation look at community as something just as important as self? Are there glass ceilings because community still isn’t valued as much as the solo winner, pushing self forward above all else? Is there still too much “winner take all” mentality rather than “how can all become winners?”

I mentioned earlier “a place at the table.” The kind of table we set, and whom is seated there has mattered very much in our culture. We find women and men of all races now around our dinner tables, corporate conference tables, and operating tables. This is something all Americans can be proud of. We celebrate that progress together and still keep in mind that there are still many not at the feast. Let us keep creating, attending and supporting art that remembers this. Let’s support those journeys of new voices, new ideas, and expand the number of seats at our tables. Let’s make room for the voices which may be less powerful, and hear what they have to say. Let’s learn that those who are busy taking care of others are busy supporting us all.

Ask yourself this... part 1

2011-02-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ballet Memphis has a core value of creating work that has meaning, and another core value that everyone in our society matters. Therefore, issues around who has a place at the table continue to be thread through the tapestry of performances we produce. This AbunDANCE: Where the Girls Are 2 is a part of an important national conversation, and naturally of great interest to me as I look back on the 24 years of our Ballet Memphis journey, plan for our future, and continue to make sure that what we do in our community has artistic, conceptual merit, and touches the deep concerns of the people with whom we live.

Today, more than half of the students in universities are women. In law school and medical school, the numbers are also reflecting this trend. Yet in ballet, there are only four women who direct fully developed, nationally respected ballet companies. How is this, when the great preponderance of young ballet students and their teachers are female? The voice of women in our field still needs nurturing, and serious questions need to be asked about patriarchal hierarchy and unconscious acceptance of old practices, attitudes and decisions.

In our performances in this two week run, you are seeing examples from some of the most thoughtful women in dance creation. Another work is a deeply personal creation by a former member of our company about the women who raised him in the Baltimore projects. There is also a fusion project between Emily Coates and Lacina Coulibaly of Burkina Faso which has in part evolved into a work that reflects women’s strength in supporting community.

Support is a rich word. It implies an ability to leave one’s self and assist another. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, choreographed by our new Artistic Associate, Julia Adam, Edna cannot find a way to discover feelings and express her need to lead a life of her own; her conventional society exacerbates her yearning, her sense of living a caged life, and she tragically sees no way out of her sorrow. The palette of the work is pastel, yet that very softness points out how lost she is, how unclear her options seem.

Damien Patterson’s Four Women homage to the women who raised him points out a different time, a different place, built on the backdrop of the racial and gender struggle in America which he has known. These women supported one another, and it is this support from which they drew their strength.

What does Nutcracker really mean to society?

2010-12-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

A young girl named Clara believes that magic can happen, that she has the capacity to help turn the tide in a struggle for the better, and that she can help others experience beauty. Clara does what all of us can do in our own brief lives: She expands her experience of her first supportive and loving community—her family—to a larger gathering, and to a greater good, helping someone in need, and celebrating with people from around the world, each in their own cultural vocabulary.

For me, the Nutcracker invokes a deeper, more profound way of thinking. For example, I have long thought that the collective community of the Kingdom of Sweets is similar to the League of Nations, the forerunner to the United Nations. I also believe that the reason we, as humans, are distinguished from other living creatures is the capability to care about people we do not know. This Nutcracker ballet is an apt metaphor for what we believe in as people living in nations aspiring toward democratic principles in which people yearn for a better life and a kinder world.
I believe Nutcracker, with dancers deeply committed to their art form, its rigorous training and nearly impossible technical demands, speaks to a deep human longing for being better, to grow through struggle and hard work, to commit and give daily to others, not just in our families and workplaces, but in our communities and in our world.

It is the mysterious godfather Drosselmeier who arranges Clara's journey, an adult helping a child through the mysteries, struggles and accomplishments that will be hers. Drosselmeier is an adult who gives Clara something quite priceless, and as human beings and artists we are called to offer the priceless yet enriching mysteries as well.

Giving occurs throughout the Nutcracker story to lay the foundation for Clara’s transformative dream. A party with gifts is given; so is loving discipline when Fritz becomes greedy and jealous. A young teenage boy gives a shy girl a rose, a symbol of life and beauty. Good food and drink are generously distributed.

There is glorious pleasure for me as artistic director of Ballet Memphis as we produce and explore all season long the infinite possibilities of creating art through dance. On the stages where Ballet Memphis performs, we continue to quietly and profoundly express our belief that we can work together to be better and to share our gifts with you.

At our Ballet Memphis School, it is our honor to train children from all over the area in an atmosphere that nurtures trust, and provides the ability to quietly and sincerely begin listening to your body and soul. At our Pilates Centre, our licensed instructors help strengthen and heal bodies.

On this stage, and others across the nation, a desire to be captivated by beauty, dance and music as demonstrated by a nonspeaking art form takes place every December. It will forever be my hope that someday, this world on the stage will be the world we will walk in every day of our lives.

World Enough and Time part II

2010-11-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

World Enough and Time....Why I don't believe ballet is over part II. (To read part I, click here)

As one of only 4 women leading ballet companies of a certain size and capability, I realized I had no desire to find "the next Balanchine", not because I didn't respect and admire his profound influence and gifts, but because I felt that looking for the next Balanchine was once again looking for an outside male savior, in many respects. It just doesn't seem like the right attitude. If women in the ballet world had been taught to find their own answers, I suspect there would be more of us making choreography and running ballet companies than there currently are. Furthermore, I was seeing a lot of lack-luster imitative choreography, coupled with a lot of steps that had no discernible meaning. It was time to help find ways to guide choreographers and dancers toward discovering meaning. If they understood and looked for meaning, perhaps they could pair their creations and their steps with renewed commitment to what lies at the base of our desire to be artists engaged in expressive dialogue.

As leaders in our field, artistic directors need to understand that the world around us, which we ask be reflected by our dancers and choreographers, is one full of possibilities. Take the stage as our setting, our metaphor. We can provide a place of almost limitless exploration because space is a gift we are honored to have time to fill while we walk, or dance, on this earth. Fill it how? With what theme? What questions? What sorrows and joys? What hopes? Isn't that how we want all human beings to move in the world? With questions, with delight, searching alone and together in community, in order to fill our world and time with value and meaning? If the flatness of the screen is affecting the thinking of people across our world, can we not call out to them and say "Look here! There is depth, intricacy, boldness! We illuminate space with our patterns and partnerships. There is room for so many. We work together, with dignity and respect for one another, and for the space in which we temporarily reside." Honestly, why don't we think of ourselves as ecologists of the human spirit?

There are other places in our country where people in our field are starting to address the need for change in the ballet world. It is very much still a patriarchal world, and the change is not really starting with the "big boys" in the big cities. This is understandable. The large cities of our nation have enough density and wealth to keep supporting, at least a while longer, what Ms. Homans sees and finds so discouraging. Those of us who live in closer proximity to the nation's "not so beautiful" know that these very people, these outliers, are often the ones whose voices, when heard, transform art. We need to closely read what is being written, hear what is being sung, experience what moves our population, and we can open a curtain behind which I believe we will find a vastness and potential we have long ignored. Furthermore, it is by seeing what we may not want to see, what we may not understand or be comfortable with, that we learn more about who we are as individuals and as people in relationship with others.

Ballet Memphis has re-enlivened story ballets and put dances in thematic context in our programming. We have investigated fused movement and local music and regional literature. We have done this without turning our backs on our training and our belief in what Ms Homans so eloquently calls our "inner truth and elevated state of being." I completely agree with her that there has been , in so many places, a forsaking of our sense of our capacity for transformation of the human spirit and our losing sight of what I believe is the enormous potential of human beings moving in the world together. However, I do not believe that this state has come about consciously. We reflect what we learn in our world. If it has become one of stricture, and of fear which blinds us, then our hope lies in our ability to reach a point where we can see what those blinders are and begin the challenging task of removing them.

We must become more conscious creators of dance. We must structure our companies and classrooms in ways that welcome "outsiders", in ways that guide and empower our young artists so that they do not feel they must conform to a structure run by a king, even if he is a benevolent despot. We must encourage curiosity and respect simultaneously, and model what is worthy of respect. We can encourage curiosity, thoughtfulness, tolerance, and give our emerging artists and audiences the understanding that they are not a part of an isolated fairy kingdom, but are a part of a world to which they can contribute hope, inspiration, and a meaningful context for exploration of ideas, experiences, and relationships. Ballet can awaken the sparkling spirit of a mysterious kingdom better than any art form I can think of, but this kingdom provides us a glimpse into attributes we share as humans that propel us forward together in a vast and ever-changing , often exciting, world. If we lose sight of why we dream about and create worlds of beauty, we stay lost in the mist.

I work in a ballet company that is truly alive. I think there are more of us out there. If we are singular, ( and I don't think we are,) we don't have to be. If the sparks are buried, I don't think they are yet suffocated. I have enormous hope. We need an awakened leadership that helps our artists, giving them the opportunity to see that "world enough and time" awaits their unselfish love , talent, and commitment to meaningful creation.

World Enough and Time

2010-11-01T06:49:00.000-07:00

World Enough and Time....Why I don't believe ballet is over

I have often felt a small tinge of alarm when I hear the word "like" which has crept into the vocabulary of our young, and into many older generations' speech as well. Jenifer Homans, in her article "Is Ballet Over?", speaks of today's ballet artists "not quite committing" as they dance. The word "like" is often inserted before a verb, as in "we were like hoping," " we were like thinking,", or "I was kinda like going this way..." If we accept the premise that there is probably a problem of commitment here, a fear of embracing action, and apply it toward the art of ballet, perhaps we can engage in a conversation about what we actually want to be committed to in the ballet world.

Some years ago, as a founding artistic director of a ballet company in a mid-sized city in the fly-over zone, I began asking questions about our purpose in the rapidly changing democracy in which we live and work and create art. What values do we hold that resonate in this world? How do we open our ballet world of idealistic hope and belief to others? How do we listen to what others say, and then nurture and create art and artists as members of a world, not a narrow kingdom? In ballet's history, artists who left the European capitals often returned with a greater understanding of what people bring to dance. I think particularly of the great Danish choreographer Auguste Bournonville (check spelling of both names please!) . By being attentive to other cultures and classes, he brought a recognizably human embrace to the ballet stage.

In a city like Memphis, with enormous social challenges and a culture so clearly enriched and influenced by black America, I have never felt that the white European aristocratic model was one in which we need to imprison ourselves. Neither did George Balanchine, as Ms. Homans points out so well. Exploring what others have to offer can broaden our language.

2010-10-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

For this, our 24th season, we have chosen the theme “Telling Our Stories,” because our world narrative, in which we are all contributors—willingly or otherwise—is so full of important stories. We hold the great gift at Ballet Memphis to be able to tell these stories through our dance. Truly, they are unique and worthy perspectives that deserve to be heard, seen, felt and appreciated. In every work we perform, whether classical, reimagined or completely new, our dancers will seek to create meaningful connections. That may be in a more intimate space, between two people onstage, or in a larger setting, with audience members and dancers moving physically and emotionally through the same range of thoughts and emotions.

It’s an awesome task that we at Ballet Memphis assume in a heartfelt and significant way. And how fortunate we are to be living here in the soul of this country, with so much great history and music from which to draw. Some of the best writers, certainly the best musicians, and artists of all kinds have been born, raised and sent from this rich Southern region. So many women, in particular, came from this place and have helped shape me, and I hope they will continue to
mold the next female generations. That is why we carry the mantle of their work, to explain and interpret these people who paved the way for us and who have made our lives more fulfilling in the process. Their work—their stories—have to continue on to keep our world moving into an even better place.

Please keep telling your own important stories, and never underestimate their influence on family, friends and those who may fleetingly pass through your life.

We’re Telling Our Stories for Our 24th Season!

2010-05-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

For our 24th season, we’re telling our stories in a whole new light. From setting a new stage with area artists of all kinds with FUSE, to a foodie’s dream event where top local chefs are challenged to create a new chapter with homegrown ingredients. Plus, three famous stories choreographed just for Ballet Memphis, including the premiere of an all-new Romeo & Juliet. Our AbunDANCE series adds a new chapter with renowned female choreographers and musicians presenting four new short works right here on this stage. And setting the stage for our 25th anniversary season, we’re taking it outdoors to the Memphis Zoo for a season wrap under the stars.

FUSE Sept 18

Connections: Food Oct 9

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Oct 30–Nov 7

Nutcracker Dec 10–12

AbunDANCE: Where the Girls Are Feb 19–27

Romeo & Juliet Apr 9–17

Connections: Outdoors May 14

Beauty comes in many forms

2010-04-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

Last season, I approached our own Travis Bradley about the idea of a new but still classically based Sleeping Beauty ballet. The reinterpretation was a risk, I knew, but the project was put into good hands, given to a young man of great sensitivity and depth. As I had hoped, Travis dove into the

project with seriousness and rigorous thought, committed to exploring concepts, people’s natures, and how a story can help us express both of these notions.

Travis was soon on his way, conducting his own storyline research, its historical interpretations and present-day applications. One of his first decisions was that the Prince and Sleeping Beauty, or Briar Rose, would grow up together, so there is a relationship that moves from childhood friendship into admiration, to a new bonding, and finally to an everlasting love. In our retelling, Carabosse, traditionally the Wicked Fairy, is a Rose Fairy of fiery passion and intense desire. When Carabosse surrenders to the Briars, she succumbs to being strangled by desire, by an imbalance of passion. At the end of the story, the Briars and Carabosse are not simply defeated by the Prince’s strength, but also because Briar Rose has touched Carabosse by offering her another vision of beauty without a burning desire to consume. When Carabosse surrenders to the call of beauty’s love and kindness, she is redeemed and forgiven for the havoc she has caused.

Another interesting storyline element is in making the Prince also the Gardener. This idea makes great sense to those of us raised in our American democracy, and it reminds us that the true “princes” in life are not defined simply by wealth, power, birth or status. Instead, they reside in those whose characters are most elegant, those who can rise above accumulation for self-gratification. Our Prince is strong enough to give to others, to celebrate beauty without grasping, and to honor, to release, to draw joy from and give love to.

When Ballet Memphis examines a traditional story in new ways, we strive to grasp the narrative’s original value and meaning, and then hold that in a sacred trust in the act of creation. If this act of care does not happen, we run the risk of presenting yet another empty spectacle. Travis, however, poured his heart into a work of great care and beauty. There is a fullness here in our new telling of Sleeping Beauty, a story replete with faith in our better human natures.

Because nobility exists in pouring one’s heart into his or her life’s work, Ballet Memphis believes strongly in mentoring and nurturing our professional dancers, our young choreographers and our students. We are determined to be thoughtful, and act in meaningful, hopeful ways. Just like a gardener, we hope to create a flourishing culture of beauty and kindness in our city and in our nation.

Feet, hands, right brain, left brain

2010-03-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend’s performances contain 3 works, each with its emphasis being a part of our bodies. Steven McMahon tackles the mind and heart, basing his work on Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s book, MY STROKE OF INSIGHT, A NEUROSCIENTIST’s PERSONAL JOURNEY. Dr. Taylor’s stroke, and her ability to assess how she went through it and what she learned from it, inspired Steven to create a work about the duality of the human brain. He says that his piece is “a conversation between the heart and mind, or the body and soul.” He found, in his readings, things that were scientific , but also spiritual at the same time. I imagine that scientists must feel this way as they make discoveries as well. The largeness of creation, the wonder of the world, the complexity of all that is within us and around us, has to be so exciting!

Julia Adam’s piece is based on the hand. She has pulled from the writings of T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Shakespeare, and Dr. Seuss, and is looking at what our hands do expressing stages of life. She added props to support her ideas, props that are extensions of our hands, and very symbolic. She even studied multiple hand games, and has created a very exciting, poignant, and fascinating works for us. I always find too , that Julia’s work has a particularly feminine sensibility in its awareness of relationships, rich and thoughtful. I wish that there were more women choreographing in the ballet world, and I wish that everyone had her openness and sensitivity.

Nicole Corea closes the program with a rousing work, having received the assignment of “feet” from me. She has some dear friends, South African gum boot dancers, whom she based her new work on. The reason the miners in South Africa were given boots was because the wonders of the mines did not want to drain the mines, so they just gave the workers boots. This in itself is enough to break your heart, but it reminded Nicole of the spirits of her South African friends, and how much they have risen through in their culture. She speaks about how joyous their dispositions can be. “The South Africans I know will dance anywhere, even in their kitchens!”

Feet, hands, right brain/left brain….all moving within us while we spend our days in this life together. Something else joyful to investigate and celebrate. Hope to see you this weekend!

Isn't the human body miraculous?

2010-03-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

Even more astounding is what we’ve learned about our bodies in the last 100 years, particularly through scientific discovery. While scientists continue to reveal amazing details about our bodies, artists have been using the body, or images of the body, to convey the many events, questions and mysteries within us. Scientists and artists alike tackle ideas with exploration and discoveries, and in Connections: Body and Soul you are watching some of that exploration.

Steven McMahon’s piece took its base from a book by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight, A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey. Dr. Taylor’s stroke, which occurred when she was only 37, and her subsequent journey through recovery, inspired Steven to create a work about the dualityof the human brain, in which each hemisphere has a different priority, or motivation. Steven explores what those hemispheres would look like in an unfolding dance work. The evolution of Julia Adam’s piece stems mainly from a documentary on PBS about 9/11. The commentator wondered about the people jumping out of the towers, holding hands. Were these acts of great love or great desperation, or both? At some point soon after, Julia and I talked about all the things we do with our hands and agreed it would be important to make a work about that someday. Finally, we are able to do it and the hands of our joyous labors can be seen today.

When I asked Nicole Corea to concentrate her work on feet, she kept thinking about a South African dance company she knows well. This company does a lot of gumboot dancing, which derives from the fact that many South African miners had to wear boots because the mines they worked in filled with water. It reminded Nicole of the spirits of her South African friends, and how much they have risen through in their culture. Nicole also uses steps from a South African dance, the pantsula, which is more of a fun, loose dance that was made up in the streets. Dance is not something South Africans separate from their daily lives. When I did my research into many of these dances, I found that all kinds of groups had this connection to the earth, this way of speaking to the earth through our vibration, and then it climbs up through the rest of your body.

Feet, hands, right brain/left brain—all moving within us while we spend our days in this life together. It is truly something joyful to investigate and celebrate.

AbunDANCE

2010-02-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Board and Patrons,

It was so rewarding, and so very interesting, to be involved in preparing our AbunDANCE performances. Last week, I returned from giving the keynote speech with National Arts Strategies ' Russell Willis Taylor at the Dance NYC, and it gave me a different and enhanced perspective. Ballet Memphis is in such an interesting position now, becoming more and more known and respected for the real innovation we have brought to our art form and our deep connection with our community. There is an eager intimacy we acheive now, with our work , and our purpose as artists, and the dancers convey this so beautifully to our audience, bringing them into that same state of being. We all know we are doing something together , and that it is significant, and important, and with this show, it is so joyful!

Yesterday, I was profoundly moved by Petr Zahradnicek's (please check spelling) to the powerful choral piece of ???? Gorecki's BROAD WATERS. In the final movement, the stillness achieved on stage was the deep stillness I also found inside me because of the dance that unfolded, and the place of arrival was a perfect harmony of music, human beings, and continuity. Then, to see 4 different men rehearse the amazing solo TAKADEME, is to see our men take on vocabulary completely different than anything they have done before. And, the jubilant Trey McIntyre piece, SECOND BEFORE the GROUND , is like welcoming a best friend we haven't seen in awhile, and the smile of welcome is enormous!

And, there is the work that we commissioned Jane Comfort to choreograph and Kirk Whalum to create music for. This collaboration has been fascinating from the outset, and the results will be so rewarding! And, this is a work in which I think you will feel a particular loving presence. These two artists have lived this presence all through the collaboration, and I don't think I have ever worked with any two artists who are more wise, humble, and large -spirited. Especially lucky you are if you are coming opening night, because Kirk and 5 other musicians will play live, and in tandem with 60 gospel voices recorded by the Mount Olivet Baptist Choir (please get the name right from Kirk....and it also needs to get in the program.) If you can't come Feb. 27th, you will still be able to see this amazing dance journey to a great recording at the other performances. And remember, this is our opening in our new midtown home at the intimate and fantastic new Playhouse on the Square, and we perform Feb. 27th, 28th, March........(please fill in).

These are difficult times for many, many people. It is important to be involved in those things that remind us that we have the capacity to find and manifest joy, and let that joy inspire us to bring more of it to others in our world, however we are able. There is no more important thing that we as artists can do , and no more important thing for us to do for one another in our lives together on this earth. I hope you will be there with us, and share with us our profound belief that we all have an AbunDANCE of Joyful Noise to cherish and grow in our communities.

Come share our joy!

Dorothy

Where do you respond, from inside your body, when you find joy?

2010-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Do you take a breath and emit a squeal? A note of song? Perhaps accompanied with a jump, or a blissful fall to the floor with a grateful note of thanks?

There are certainly an infinite variety of ways we express our jubilation. But, who can argue that we take that first inhalation while we are becoming aware of the news, the thought, the imagined picture? And doesn't it come back out, almost always, with sound and movement?

In this season's AbunDANCE, we are presenting work that was choreographed as a response to the joyful first intake of breath, coming back out as a chant, or a song, or channeled into a wind instrument.

I first saw Robert Battle's Takademe when it was performed at Houston's Dance Salad the same year Ballet Memphis was the only American ballet company invited to appear. The solo is powerful and utterly physical yet has a humorous undercurrent. When modernist choreographer Jane Comfort and composer/performer Kirk Whalum collaborated on the work premiering at this show, what resulted was a pieces that follows a person's struggle to find their way to a joyful elevation. Broad Waters is the story of a community of people bound together by the river they live near. And we're pleased to once again perform Trey McIntyre's Second Before the Ground.

Whatever brings you joy in life, find it, embrace it and watch it flourish.

Prestigious National Grant Awarded to Ballet Memphis

2009-08-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

When New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announced that its National Dance Project (NDP) has awarded $669,400 in Production Grants to support the development of new dance works during the 2009-2010 seasons, there was a joyous surprise in our studios. Twenty-one contemporary dance artists and companies—many of the largest, well-known national and international companies among them—will receive NDP Production Grants, and Ballet Memphis is proud to be on that list. Jane Forde, NDP Manager, could see in the various companies an aspect that is very important to Ballet Memphis, and that is an attempt to bridge cultures and create work that will truly engage communities across the United States.

Ballet Memphis' grant will go to fund a new work by choreographer Jane Comfort. Jane Comfort’s ballet, set to a score by Kirk Whalum, is a highly structured, abstract dance that blends classical ballet with contact and modern dance’s sensibility. Known in the business as Whitney Houston’s “sax guy,” the eight-time Grammy nominated African American musician Whalum has composed a score firmly rooted in the gospel tradition. Presented in an evening of mixed repertoire, the ballet celebrates the joy that is gospel: the ability to maintain an utterly enthusiastic and positive spirit in the face of dire circumstances and conditions.

The new work will premiere at this season's AbunDANCE: Joyful Noise, the premiere of Ballet Memphis in their new Midtown home in Playhouse on the Square. Once developed, the works will be available for national touring activity during the 2010-2011 or 2011-2012 performance seasons.

NEFA's National Dance Project Production and Touring grants are generously supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation.

Score one for the little guys!

Putting Down Roots On Stage

2009-08-17T14:25:00.001-07:00

A writer from a publication asked this week, "What’s a good example of a past Ballet Memphis piece that was based on Memphis roots music?" Mixing local musical artists into our repertoire has always been important, especially given the strong nature of the Memphis music scene, but there is so much more to communicate. Ballet Memphis made international inroads with the Memphis Project Tour, interpreting the cultural legacy of the South. Performances have been set to the music of such Memphis-area recording artists as B.B. King, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. One of the strongest pieces in this repertoire is In Dreams which showcases the emotion and power of the voice of Roy Orbison, yet remains very "accessible" to people. Another popular piece of work we commissioned is Pork Songs, where the choreographer Trey McIntyre worked with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi to devise a collection of grainy old recordings about pork. The final selection ranged from "Chitlin's" by Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns, "I Like Pork" by Redd Foxx, "Porker Song" by The Bowmans and more.

But Ballet Memphis is not just about tapping into the culture of music, it's everything Southern roots. Perhaps the most powerful piece in this repertoire is Curtain of Green, choreographed by Julia Adam based on the Eudora Welty work. In just two scenes and with just three dancers the audience explores the inequitable balance of power in the south with both race and men and women. It's a rich, beautiful, simple, stark piece with dancers wearing hair down. Other pieces include I Am a Man, The Awakening and Two Jubilees which was based on a photograph of children dressed up for a cotton parade and tackled the separate celebrations experienced by whites and blacks at the time of high cotton.

Some might say these pieces could only be performed in the South, but Ballet Memphis sold out the Joyce Theatre in New York with these pieces on the bill and still answer requests for it as part of our touring packages. We're proud to give people all over the country a taste for the modern, creative power that can come out of a region with a deep and sometimes troubling history.

Come FUSE With Ballet Memphis

2009-06-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

You know what it feels like to see that special someone, to drive a new car, score the winning goal or land the dream job—the things that really light your fuse? That make you explode with joy like fireworks over the Mississippi? Things that bring you such instant joy that you do your little happy dance when no one is looking? Well, we’re looking now, and we want you to rekindle that joy and share it with the world.

Show us your happy dance, and you could win our Grand Prize—seeing your joyous inspiration become a professional Ballet Memphis dance work. The winning happy dance will premiere opening night at Playhouse on the Square, the new midtown home of Ballet Memphis. Don’t have a happy dance? Then show us what you think joy looks like in dance. You don’t have to be a pro—this dance is for everybody.

All you have to do is film your happy dance in three minutes or less, and submit it to Ballet Memphis through our YouTube group. Our panel will view your little piece of joy and select semifinalists. All semifinalists will have their submissions posted online for audience voting and win two tickets to the February premiere, Abundance: Joyful Noise. We’ll announce the finalists at FUSE—our September dance party and 23^rd season opener celebration. Then, each finalist will work with Ballet Memphis dancers who will turn your spark of joy into a new professional dance work. We’ll be watching the process, and will announce the overall winner at our November performance of Wizard of Oz. If you win, you’ll be watching Ballet Memphis perform your happy dance on opening night at Playhouse on the Square in February 2010.

FUSE is a series of community-wide events that celebrates the fusion of imagination, joy, and collaboration that dance ignites in all of us. So embrace that flicker of creativity that burns deep inside you! Start dancing, start filming, and start sharing your happy dance with us.

Find an entry form at balletmemphis.org/fuse.

The Most Gracious Dancers Ever

2009-05-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

We've wrapped our 22nd season, but the dancers here at Ballet Memphis are all still hard at work. I've never seen a group so committed to their city, their community, their students, their practice. The continue to teach in both our Ballet School and Pilates Centre. They just made appearances at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center and St. Jude Children's Medical Hospital to visit the sick children who cannot leave the premises. We also have two company members, Julie Niekrasz and Scott Spivey, who are defying the odds as two of only eight Americans selected to compete in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. They have spent countless hours and have been extremely gracious in giving of their time and attention to represent U.S. professional dance in the best light possible. And then there's Interiorworks. Now in its 10th year, this end-of-season performance is completely choreographed and hosted by the dancers as a fundraiser for the Artist Resource Fund. Now that's giving back. This year there will be eight new dance works premiered, wonderful silent auction items from other artists and a warm, casual atmosphere in which to meet, mingle and remember the fabulous season we've just experienced.

Beauty Can Be All Around Us

2009-04-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

“Beauty is treasure; but graciousness is priceless.”

This quote by Charles Perrault struck Cinderella’s choreographer, Steven McMahon, as a most appropriate way of describing the real beauty this tale highlights in its lead character, Cinderella. In doing a little research on the story’s origins myself, I discovered that the first version of the Cinderella story was recorded in the first century B.C., centering around a young woman servant who loses her sandal while washing clothes in a stream in Egypt. The sandal later was picked up by a bird and dropped at the feet of the Pharaoh in, guess which city? Memphis! The Pharaoh chases her down until he finds the person who was the right and beautiful one to wear the golden sandal. Early versions of the story also are found in China, Japan, the Philippines and Korea. A Scottish/Celtic myth/lore version exists as well. (Our Steven is from Scotland.)

Cultures have used stories through the ages to wrestle with ideas of beauty and ugliness. One idea that has lasted a long time is the need to know who we are, especially if we believe real beauty lies in attaining happiness. The Ugly Stepsisters in Cinderella are funny because they are strong, hairy men pretending to be women. They pretend to be beautiful, but we all know they cannot be until they acknowledge their mean-spirited and dim-witted personalities. The stepsisters offer contrast to Cinderella’s beauty, who serves others thoughtfully and gently. They also allow us to laugh at their weaknesses, precisely because we know we have a bit of them in us.

Steven speaks of being struck by how Cinderella never seems to be defined by her environment. She responds with kindness, even when burdened with genuine sorrow, by doing what she knows she has to do. Steven also decided to bring the mother/daughter story into Cinderella in a smart way. Mothering is a tremendous force, and like most forces, it has potential for good and bad. Protecting and nurturing our young is utterly necessary, as is letting them have their space to make their mark. But giving our children the idea that their wants and desires should be placed at the center of the universe is a terrible idea. As we see so clearly in Cinderella,The Wicked Stepmother has bred monsters in her image. Cinderella, however, teaches us that those who give, care and nurture become given to, nurtured, and cared about, which is one of those things in life that never changes. When we participate in the handing down and adaptation of culture, we can glean so much from it if we remember to examine where we fit into the story; if we remain open to the possibilities for transformation. Where is Cinderella in our heart? She who serves others and helps the needy? When are we as Fairy Godmothers, recognizing good and moving it forward? When do we reward excellence and do the difficult work of demanding it, not settling for the ease of imitative mediocrity? When are we willing to do the work, write the check and put in the time, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for us? Are we going to be Memphis with leaders like the Pharaoh, believing in , supporting and searching for real creativity and beauty? The more we can honestly search our hearts and answer yes the better our lives will be. And I hope we will always have art to prod us, inspire us and push us toward being the better selves we can be.

Connections:Puppets

2009-03-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Board and Patrons:
This weekend at Clark Opera Center , Ballet Memphis will perform one of the smartest, most creative programs we have ever produced, and you know we have produced a great many of those! Connections: Puppets takes our dancers , and thereby our audiences, to new levels of delight, surprise, and imagination. When Jane Comfort came here to set her work , Underground River, on four of our dancers, she had no idea that our ballet dancers would take her work to this height. Our dancers sing, speak, dance, and manipulate the most beautiful and evocatively simple puppets (by Basil Twist) all the way through the piece. It is , really, something that will take your breath away. I am moved with every rehearsal I am privileged to see. This is a work that is very, very smart on so many levels, and captivating from start to finish.
Lily Cai’s work follows, and anyone who has ever loved a child will be deeply moved . This piece has five women holding baby dolls all the way through the gorgeous Samuel Barber adagio, and the mesmerizing movements’ intensity and heartfelt love of parent for child is the perfect coupling to this rich and penetrating music.
When we get to Travis Bradley’s piece , The Ugly Duckling, prepare to be taken in another direction entirely, with a number of different puppets in a wide range of sizes being moved by the dancers, or dancing with the dancers. This is all on a backdrop of clear, bright color and texture, created and danced with high spirit, but still touching with all with its important message of self-discovery and delight in life.
Jane Comfort is one of the leaders in the world of theatrical dance. Lily Cai used to be a principal dancer with the Shanghai Opera before moving to California , and puppeteer Frank Kane, who has designed the puppets for Travis and is working with the dancers as well as holding a puppet workshop this Saturday afternoon before the performance, worked on Sesame Street with some of the greatest puppets most all of us have come to know and love.
This is not a program to miss. I can’t wait to see and hear your responses after you have experienced it! Thank you again for helping us bring these amazingly creative elements all together.

Most affectionately, and with great excitement,
Dorothy

A Connection to Children, Through Puppets

2009-03-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

There is a line from William Wordsworth’s poetry that reads, “The child is father of the man.”

If we think back upon our childhood toys, or toys that we have given to children, puppets are
likely to be among them. With simple finger or hand puppets, we have actually given our children ways to practice experiencing the world. Calling upon their imaginations, they negotiate and practice their skills through human interactions using these puppets.

For centuries, puppetry has delighted and entertained us, but it has also given us opportunities to extend ourselves into the world of practicing being human. Watching these performances gives us the opportunity to practice again, vicariously, but in a very real sense. It seemed natural to me that when we reach out to objects that personify us as living creatures, as puppets with their nonhuman skin do, we are actually doing the work of digging deeply within.

If you watch the dancers closely in Connections: Puppets, you will see how inevitably they must be apart of the puppets they touch. They must leave their secure place of self-knowing as dancer, and extend to the other, the puppet—and while doing so, the puppet transforms them even as they are transforming bits of material into creatures with life. This is far from their normal dance assignment, different from how they think of themselves or present themselves as dancers. Empathy and attentiveness are demanded in immediate and necessary ways whether the dancers are mother guiding and cradling child, as in Lily Cai’s tender and searing piece, or they are the various emotions and thoughts of little Kara trapped in her world of coma, as in Jane Comfort’s breathtaking and stunning creation. These are works that go straight to the heart of human meaning. They address the consequences of the intense unconditional attachment we have for our children, and the unfathomable love of which we are capable.

The fairytale, too, is a world that helps us confront the human narrative, so it is naturally a rich source for puppetry and dance. We all must know the feeling of being excluded or the yearning to be our most beautiful selves. Travis Bradley, in his search through many stories and fairytales for this project, kept returning to The Ugly Duckling. He had felt like the outcast. Just like our ugly duckling in this performance who is being picked on by everyone and realizes she has to leave, there are times in our lives when we have to leave relationships, bad habits or the unkind messages we may have learned to tell ourselves about our worth. Those are the “dogs” in this ballet, the things that keep us abject. The duckling goes from one place to another, but it is actually a journey of self in which she is engaged.

Would that we all will find the strength in our human characters to shelter, with love and compassion, those who are small, defenseless and with few resources. Would that we all find our true nature. Just as the dancers are moving with their puppets, it is by overcoming our fears and extending our hearts, our minds, our blessings and resources to the other, tthat we move to find the beauty that is our true selves.

An Abundance of Gifts to Share

2009-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

In times of unease, one of the most empowering things we can do is to look at our blessings. Then, the next step is not to hoard this abundance, but to disperse it to others. We find, mysteriously, that by giving away, we are replenished. This may be the single most important value at Ballet Memphis.

Reflect upon our gifts, use them by giving them to others, and a cycle of good will, deep personal growth, and eventually deep community growth will unfold. Look around us and inside us, always. There is a need in human beings to take an inward journey and an outward journey in order to find peace and contentment, and to progress and move forward in more spiritual richness. With this Abundance program, I have asked our choreographers to take, as a springboard for this journey, artwork from four of our very fine art museums in Memphis.

Dana Tai Soon Burgess took his inspiration from John Singer Sargent’s painting titled Ramón Subercaseaux in a Gondola. His serene, gentle, quietly beautiful work is a wonderful expression of the inward journey. Jane Rehm focused on Matt Ducklo's art to be touched by the visually impaired, is a large leap into the life of the other. She had dancers rehearse blindfolded to understand how other senses must come into play in perceiving the world around us. Travis Bradley was drawn to the steel lock and key by Manuel Guerra, and what appeals to the heart when we see various avenues open to us behind its symbolism, behind the doors that we open. And Camille Brown, drawn by the color and theatre of a painting of Beale Street by Mario Bacchelli, chose blues music by Aretha Franklin to complete her story.

So again, four new, thoughtful works appear on the stage for you, produced by Ballet Memphis. We offer you our gifts, taking our cues from other gifted visual artists. We know that taking our journeys, singly and collectively, require a will to explore, to examine, and ultimately, to give. I suspect this is the most important reason to herald, celebrate, and support the creation of art and the institutions committed to the life of art. We are not committed solely to the product created, nor solely to the creators and artists who present the work, but to the amazing spiritual and mysterious ways of living asked of us by art as it is given, through artists, to all of us.

Why We Do What We Do, Part 2

2008-12-20T12:23:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the school year, we heard from our students why they dance, and the resounding answer was that for interpreting your feelings, there are no limits.

Now, if art is truly an individual’s means of expression – unique and without rules or limits - then formal training is not required. After all, you can sing in the shower, or paint or play the piano for your own enjoyment, thereby fulfilling your own need for expression. But without training, our vocabulary may be somewhat limited, which is why artists of all mediums study and perfect their technique in classes. And this is where Ballet Memphis School comes into the picture. Learning to dance teaches us not only the movements that become our “words”, but also the nuances of our language’s grammar and sentence structure. Ballet training gives us eloquence.

I’m not sure that our youngest students or their parents know that this is what’s going to happen when they begin studying in our school, but somewhere along the way, the metamorphosis from student to artist, from mimic to creator happens. It happens to every single student.

As Ballet Memphis School works to increase our school enrollment, and to make connections in our community, it is important to dispel the notion that dance is just entertainment, or an idle pastime. Instead, we want folks to know that when we dance, we are simply talking with our bodies, expressing who we are, and who we would like to be. I believe that the future of Ballet Memphis School will revolve around sharing this with children from all circumstances who have lots to say in their lives, but don’t know that art, or dance can be their language.

Why Does Art Matter?

2008-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

When I planned this 22ndseason for Ballet Memphis, I decided to build it around a central theme, “Beyond Skin” from which new work would commence and grow, and make a finished product that you had to "See to Believe." This theme serves many purposes, including providing a lens for work or stories in existence; serving as a base for every program we perform this season; and being a gauge for all the other programs and activities we do beyond our professional company’s performances. “Beyond Skin” is intended to help us focus.

As dancers, teachers and students of dance and movement, and body awareness, Ballet Memphis’ very existence is owed to our belief that there are mysteries our bodies are here to attend to, to express, to care for. When a child is captivated by the magic of a performance and wants to take ballet lessons, that child is expressing a belief that there is somehow a “world” to be entered, to believe in. It is an impulse that is very real, and very important as we make our way in life.

One of the ways we enter this very real world of magic is the way we create stories about animals, giving them human characteristics. This program takes us into that plane of reflection and response through three works centered on aspects of our animal kingdom. All the works in this program have been commissioned by us. The first is Trey McIntyre’s Pork Songs, done for our Connections: Food series last fall and reprised now on the main stage. Although it is humorous, and danced to some very interesting Southern roots music, the fight for survival, which is not always pretty, is one we will all understand. Choreographic Associate Steven McMahon has tackled Carnival of the Animals without the verses by Ogden Nash, and the result is a gentle but penetrating portrait of some of our most interesting human fears, foibles and quirks, all colorfully illustrated. How he handles the formerly iconic “Dying Swan” is a marvel and its vulnerable beauty one of poignant exposure.

We close with Mark Godden’s new Firebird. I continue to appreciate Mark’s delightful way of thinking. He is looking at the story’s two chief characters—the Princess and Koschei—as exemplifying ways that humans struggle to decide how they will live. Koschei has chosen never to die. The animal creatures personified in the Russian tales of the long-living mythical Firebird, Mark sees as exemplary of the life cycle we must all experience. They accept death as part of life. Simultaneously, he is amplifying the shimmering music, and punctuating this seriousness with flights of humorous fancy that nod to us, reminding us that wit is a quality reserved for humans.

One of the most wonderful aspects of what we do at Ballet Memphis is that in helping people, young to old love and respect their bodies, we help them love the beauty that surpasses an image. The body and its image are a way to travel, not a stopping point. Our dancers look the way they do because they still believe in a greatness we all could share as living creatures.

Idealistic? Absolutely. Necessary? Indisputably. Spiritual? Of course. And that, above all else, is why art matters.

Food For Thought, And Dance

2008-10-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

There is perhaps no greater connection than we feel to the world than through food. And dance is no different. Chefs are like choreographers, designing elements to mingle and play in conceptual arrangements on the plate. A full meal, thus tells a story from beginning to end, with ups and downs and surprises that help us learn something about ourselves or our world. This is what our annual fundraiser has sought to do these past three years.

Ballet Memphis will serve up its annual fundraiser, Connections: Food, on Saturday, October 18th at BRIDGES Inc., 477 N. 5th Street. The event begins at 7 p.m. Connections: Food, now in its fourth year, will feature live music, an expanded venue and celebrity chef Scott Peacock, named 2007 “Best Chef in the Southeast” by the James Beard Foundation and chef-owner of the celebrated Watershed restaurant in Decatur, Ga.

Each food course in Connections: Food will be paired with an original work by four choreographers that tells a story of the dish: Mark Godden, Camille A. Brown and Ballet Memphis’ own Jesus Pacheco and Jane Hope Rehm.

The First Course, Comedie of Taste by Jesus Pacheco, is set to music by Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B, Mozart Piano Concerto, and is paired with food by Karen Blockman Carrier and Tim Barker. The appetizer course is a variety of small plates which makes it difficult to choose of what to partake, just as the dancers dibble in dabble in relationships and jockeying for position on the arm of another partygoer.

The Second Course, Finding the Redd by Jane Hope Rehm is set to music by Beirut and is paired with food by Johnny Kirk of Stella restaurant. This second course is a fish course, salmon, and the dancers in heat-sensitive and color-changing suits "swim upstream" in search of their perfect mate.

The Main Course, Orange Bourbon Glaze by Mark Godden, is set to musical excerpts from Slavic Dances by Antonín Dvorak and "Tower of Song" by Leonard Cohen. The food for this course is composed by Jose Guttierez of Encore restaurant and consists of a pork tenderloin in, as I'm sure you can guess, an orange bourbon glaze. The work is gutteral and naked, and in the same sense fulfilling and rich, just as a main course should be.

For Dessert we feature Un Festin Divin by Camille Brown, set to original music composed and performed by Kirk Clayton and paired with food by Martha Hall Foose of Viking Cooking School. Her full use of the company on stage mirrors the plate which is served with choices of sauces and garnish - a full array of flavors.

With food for thought, we hope to see you there.

Pushing Forward, With Momentum

2008-08-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Momentum X leads off this season and asks our audience and our choreographers to look at our dancers from many angles. Why not try to change your perception? Step into a view that may be uncomfortable and perhaps disconcerting. The result just may be a new way of seeing—an amplified conception. Enjoy the change and bring your openness and willingness to the rest of our season.

Our Momentum series has always been about pushing the boundaries, and looking at what's hot in fresh, young, choreographic talent. This year we bring three choreographers and three world premieres to the stage Labor Day weekend, and they each shared a little behind their piece and how it fit into the Momentum method.

Nicole Corea, in constructing her piece, takes a long piece of fabric—inspired by a tattoo on her back that is based on the native American medicine wheel centering around the number four. This number refers to the four seasons and what they represent in life, and the four parts of us that make us complete as a person (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual) and how our will is what drives us to finding the wholeness. The fabric, then, represents the things that thread us together.

Julie Niekrasz imagined a metaphorical wall separating the two Momentum stages (which are weaving around existing columns in an expansive turn-of-the-century hall.) She has the dancers immediately curious about the wall. She see walls within ourselves and between other people. in the second movement pas de deux, after the individuals touch, the wall then vanishes, a metaphor for our human story.

Gabe Masson and musician Scott Detweiler are both originally from New Orleans. Naturally they both have discussed their need to dig more deeply into their feelings post Katrina. Gabe thinks the residents of New Orleans were forced into a place of "necessary intimacy" when Katrina struck. All lines of division in daily life—race, class, etc.—were all of a sudden blurred and people had to go "beneath the surface," as it were, to (re)discover their humanity.

The range of music throughout the three pieces ranges from classical to new age to original acoustic blues, and the range of emotions is just as wide. With the audience seated all around the stage, we'll have to be open not just to the experience, but to each other.

Looking Beyond Skin

2008-08-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

This season, it is our hope that every work touches upon the theme "Beyond Skin." We live in a culture that often seems obsessed with what is on the surface; but, the best artists and the most curious people, including our audiences, aren't content to lightly gloss over the substance of life. The things that lay deep within us, connecting us to one another and to a vibrant, changing, fascinating world, are what we crave to investigate and try to understand. Whether we laugh or cry, we want to make contact with what is deeply real, not glib or assumptive.

For dancers who are artists, for choreographers who are seekers, for all who are thirsty for substance, the human body is an instrument that can be utilized to explore, to experiment, to push to new levels, and to be a part of expressing something greater than the sum of its parts. Our bodies are not used to sell a product, nor are they to be used for another's gain or sense of power and dominance. Our bodies lead us far beyond our skin in a never-ending journey to know more, be better, and be more whole. We believe this path is noble and needed in our current culture.

Seeing Is Believing

2008-08-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

For our 22nd season, we invite you to travel with us beyond the ordinary, to push the boundaries past the expected. Together, we'll look beyond mere skin, beyond our own bodies and those of the dancers to fully experience all that may not meet the eye. This year, more than ever before, seeing is believing.

We love pushing the boundaries, and delivering on more than what people expect from a mid-size ballet company. This year alone we're bringing more than 15 original new works to the stage!

Three new explorations of beloved classics like Firebird and Cinderella will delight you like your first ballet or symphony. Through fairy tales, puppets and exciting new collaborations with our fine arts community, you'll explore new avenues of the imagination. Throughout our season we'll reach out to you with topics that beg you to question, to ponder and to talk back to us; to open a dialogue within our community about what our city can truly become with a fully-engaged and fully-supported arts community.

Check out our website at www.balletmemphis.org to request a brochure or check out our upcoming season. We're looking forward to an amazing journey with you.

Another New Journey

2008-07-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

What gifts both this city this ballet company offer one another. As Ballet Memphis continues to stretch its repertoire and pour out new, original works onto national stages, it also brings more prominence and accolades back home. Did we ever believe that Ballet Memphis could shine so brightly on these national stages and receive such favorable reviews? We've proven the answer resoundingly—yes!

In return, Memphis is expanding its prestige, becoming known increasingly as a national spotlight for superior dance.

And Ballet Memphis continues to make physical movement, in all its forms, more accessible and well-loved to even more Memphians. Take, for example, the company's beautiful new Pilates Centre. As the only STOTT-certified teaching and instructor-training center in Memphis, the new location complements our mission of a stronger, healthier Memphis.

Reaching out throughout our communities also includes educational enrichment opportunities—master classes taught by Ballet Memphis dancers and our school faculty, and school dance programs to give children who might not otherwise ever see a ballet a glimpse into this magical world.

Finally, as ambassadors for Memphis, we're strengthening our touring schedule and reaching out to areas of the country that continue to be astounded by the talent we have here. The company continues to successfully push forward, and we hope that you'll enjoy the travels alongside us.

Welcome to our blog!

Why We Do What We Do, Part 1

2008-07-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

For a couple of years now, I’ve been watching as many businesses and industries, including Ballet Memphis, have been required to rethink and reinvent themselves to stay relevant in our quickly changing world. This has made me wonder if traditional dance training will be required to undergo a similar evolution, and if so, what might a new ballet school paradigm look like? The ballet school model in America has not changed very much in the last 75 years, but if significant adaptation is required, I want Ballet Memphis School to be a part of the leading edge of growth and change, not struggling to keep up or catch up. In trying to imagine where dance training may be headed, I thought it appropriate to first examine why we do what we do.

I sat down last year with the students in the highest level of the school and asked them why they dance. Before I tell you what they said, take a moment to think about what you’re passionate about, how you choose to spend your limited time and energy. Chances are you choose activities that make you feel good, that challenge you in some way, or that allow you to express yourself.

The students’ answers all fell into one of those categories. Yes, dancing makes us feel beautiful, and we enjoy its physicality; we like the intellectual challenge of mastering difficult movements and learning choreography; and we love performing with focus and passion and receiving adulation from an appreciative audience. But the students all agreed that the most important and compelling reason that they dance is that dance allows us to express things that words alone cannot say. That idea has become the tag line for the Junior Company – (we dance) “because words are not enough.”

Artists of all kinds, both visual and performing, create works of art as a means of expression, and each utilizes a different kind of language. Writers and poets have words. Musicians have sound and rhythm. Painters have color and shape. And dancers have movement. Each artistic medium uses a different language, but the intent is the same – we tell our stories, express our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, through our art.

Even the simplest gesture is a means of communication. I’m not speaking just of traditional pantomime like: “I see you,” or even a gesture that suggests “I have a headache.” Rather, gestures in dance are usually abstract, and open to interpretation.

Through gestures and the postures and movements of the entire body, we portray characters, tell stories, or emulate familiar beings like animals. At other times we simply create an atmosphere that is inspired by the music and the exact interpretation is left up to the audience. As one of the students wrote about the experience of dancing: “The world tells us what the norm is and gives us strict rules to conform to. When we dance, there is no wrong way to move. We are free to express things any way we want. There are no limits.”